Closing Doors When One Shuts, a Wall Breaks Open – Part 5 of 5

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Thanks for being here. We’ve got a great sermon. Again, we’re wrapping up the “Comfort and Hard Times” sermon series.

Today, we are talking about closing doors. Sometimes in life, things may seem like they aren’t working out. And often we may find comfort in the saying when God closes one door, he opens another. That saying is very popular. You’ve probably heard it.

And although it’s not in the Bible, there are some, uh, passages that support it. And so let’s dive in right away. We’re going to get into the Word of God.

Revelation 3:7 and 8: “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia: Write. These are the words of Him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.

I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.”

All right, let’s break this down. Let’s unpack this a little bit. Revelation—end times—Jesus speaking to John—that’s what this is. And He is saying to John, to the angel in the church in Philadelphia, “Write this. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.”

Who, who is the “He” in there? The words of Him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open. So when a door is closed, no one else can open it.

When a door is open, no one else can close it. And what—and I have placed before you. Who is the eye? Jesus. I have placed before you an open door.

Who is the “You”? The angel, but it could also apply to you. And it does apply to you because these words, even though they were written at a certain time, they apply in your life. So guess what? “I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut.”

God has put an open door before you. Are you going through that, or are you trying to go through somewhere else? God knows you have little strength yet, “you have kept my word and have not denied my name.”

So what’s the key here? What can we take away from this, because we are not angels? We don’t become angels. We are created more than angels, actually, according to the Bible. And so if you have little strength, which we have very little strength on our own, but we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength, and so what does this mean for you here and now today?

It means this: that you may have little strength, but remember you can do all things through Christ who gives you the strength. He has placed before you an open door that no one can shut. It is now your job to find and go through that open door.

We must follow God’s open doors because, yes, He may have some closing doors, but He has doors in front of you that are open that no one else can shut.

Let’s go to Proverbs 16:9. Proverbs 16:9: “In their hearts humans plan their course, but Yahweh establishes their steps.” That means we make plans—we have an entire sermon series—well, not a series, a playlist of a bunch of sermons on plans and planning.

So you can check that out. It’ll be in a card up here, or go to our website. You can type in “Plan,” and a bunch of things are going to come up.

But the point is that we plan our course, and it is the Lord that determines our steps. So you might be making plans in your life and trying to go through a certain door or trying to make a way, but God has an open door in front of you, and you might be trying to go somewhere else.

This door is open, and no one can shut it, but you’re going through doors that are already closing, or closing doors that, that God has closed, because when He closes a door, no one can open it.

So if God says no to something and you keep trying, you’re, you’re literally banging your head against the wall because that door will not be opened. Don’t try to break it down. You’ll just be wasting your time. When God closes a door, He opens a wall.

That’s what’s more accurate, I would say, because His doors cannot be closed. And so, really, then, what is it if there is a door that cannot be closed? That is an opening.

That is like a walkway or a walkthrough—like a door with no hinges—a door frame and no door on it. That cannot be closed except by God. So if He closes a door, don’t try to break it down. Let’s talk about Paul.

Let’s go to Acts 16:6 and 7. “Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the Word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.”

All right, what’s going on here? Well, we’ve got a couple of things happening. Paul and his companions were traveling, and they were trying to do what they weren’t trying to do, their own agenda—they were doing the will of God. They were doing the Word.

They were being doers of the Word. That’s what you need to be. They were being like Christ. That’s what you need to be.

They were following Jesus’ example, and what were they doing, traveling throughout the region; they wanted to go into Asia. They were kept from entering Asia. That means closing doors. God closed the door there.

They couldn’t go into Asia. So what did they do? They went somewhere else, and then what? Well, they tried to enter Bithynia, but what happened? Closing doors, and they had to go somewhere else.

And so what was going on there, well, they were trying to do God’s will, but fortunately for them, they were listening to the Holy Spirit—to Jesus—and they recognized God’s closing doors in front of them.

They knew that God was shutting that door, saying, “No, do not go here.” And they recognized it and said, “All right, when He closed this door, that means He must have opened another one.”

He made straight the path. He has a different way for us that we need to follow. And so that’s what they did. They turned, and they kept going, and they got to another place. Okay, surely this is it, God. Nope, not that one. Go somewhere else. And they went, and they made it where they were supposed to be.

So in these two verses alone, Paul had two doors closed. He wanted to preach in Asia. God said no. He wanted to preach in Bethnia. God closed that door as well.

He continued on recognizing and listening to God, which is exactly what you need to do. Let’s go to Romans 8:28. Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

We’ve referenced this verse before. It’s one that many, many people misquote—they get wrong. They think, “Oh God works for all good,” or “God works for everyone’s good or the good of all.”

No. Wrong. God will only work for the good of who—those who love Him and who have been called according to His purpose. Okay, what does that mean? It means you need to love God in order for things to work out for your good.

How do you love God? What does Jesus say? “If you love me, keep my commandments.” So if you are doing what God wants you to do, things will be working out for your good.

Remember the verse in Revelation. It said, “I know you have loved me.” And what, what happened? An open door no one can shut. You have kept my Word. You have not denied my name.

It said when you keep the Word of God, what does that mean? Well, this is the Word of God. If I keep it, does it mean I’m just keeping it like this? No, it means I’m keeping it by doing it. I have followed and lived by the Word of God.

This is very, very important. If you love God, you will keep His commandments. Does that mean you just keep them in your possession? No, it means keep as in do and follow and live by. Let them guide your life so that when you are going through this life here on Earth, you are living by the Word of God.

You are being—as we said in this series—an ambassador of Christ—a Christian, a representative of Christ—one you are living up to this standard—the standard of Jesus. He is the one you are to follow to be like. You need to be listening to when God speaks to you.

We have several sermons on listening to God. You can check those out on our website, or I’ll put a playlist in a card up here that you can watch and learn about that.

Lean in. God is talking to you. He is speaking to you. The Holy Spirit is prompting you. If you say, “I don’t, I don’t think that,” or “I don’t feel that,” or “I’m not noticing that in my life,” then you need to invite Jesus into your life. Because when you invite Jesus into your life, you become a Christian. The Holy Spirit indwells in you.

If you don’t have that, then you must not have the Spirit. So become a believer. You say, “Well I’m, I’m already a Christian.” Well then, you might need to dive into the Word a lot more and start acting like a Christian.

You need to be a doer of the Word. You need to be following the commandments. You need to know your Bible. You need to understand your Bible. You need to be communicating with others about the Bible.

You need to always have it on your heart, on your lips, on your mind, meditating on it day and night—doing what the Bible says. And when you do that, when you follow this, what happens? God works out all things for your good, because why. Because you love Him.

Because you are following His commands, because you are called according to your purpose—according to His purpose for you.

So what happened to Paul? He wanted to go preach in a couple of different places. God was closing doors. Two doors closed, and God said—He called Paul to Macedonia—and there, what happened? What happened?

There was a greater good than in those other two places, perhaps because when Paul got to Macedonia, what happened?

A lady and her entire household converted and gave their lives to Christ. God was closing doors, but what happened? He opened a wall for Paul and his companions. All they had to do was pay attention.

That’s it. Now you could say He opened a door that no one could close, which, yes, but it was apparent when they were listening.

You see, in your life, things are going to happen, and you will feel sad and discouraged and beaten down because that’s part of life. Remember, we go through many trials, troubles, tribulations, persecution—all of which is from the enemy. None of that is from God. Remember, when you are tempted, you can’t say God is tempting you because God cannot be tempted.

So it is the enemy coming against you. Do not give him a foothold. Don’t give him any permission to attack you. He’s going to try, but guess what? Remember the angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him.

We reference that verse—Psalms 34:7. And what happens? He delivers them. Who is the “He”? Your Father in heaven is delivering you.

How is He doing it? He’s using the angels around you. Remember that, that when God closes a door, you need to trust Him. Don’t get discouraged. Don’t get frustrated. Don’t get angry. If you do, remember, though, God can take it.

We talked about that before. God can take it. And so if that’s going on and you are–are feeling like, man, no matter what you try to do, you–you try to do this, and–and it just gets shut down.

You have this great idea, and someone else says, “No, that won’t work.” You try this and it–and it fails. You, you, you’re doing whatever, and you think, “Okay, this is what I’m supposed to do, God.” And, and you start doing it, and then it just doesn’t work. Something happens. You lose your funding.

A tragedy happens, and it costs more—whatever the case—lean in to God in those moments because He is either doing He, He is—I guarantee you He is doing a greater thing in you. What’s happening is one of two things.

Either God is closing a door and saying, “No, this isn’t the way to go”—just like he did for Paul. Or the enemy is trying to stop you and attacking you. And so that’s—you have one of two options.

Paul had one of two options when he went through and tried to get into Asia, and God said no. See, Paul recognized what—this verse is so important because it says that they were kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the Word.

So Paul recognized that when he was trying to get into Asia. This wasn’t the enemy stopping him. He said, “No, this was the Holy Spirit telling me, not here, go somewhere else.”

And then when they went somewhere else, they tried to enter Bethnia. But what happened? The Spirit of Jesus would not allow them. It didn’t say the enemy tried to prevent them, but they pursued, no, because Paul was able to discern who was speaking to him.

That’s where you need to be. When closing doors happen in your life, you need to know who is closing those doors. Is it God?

Is it the Spirit saying, “Hey, not this way,” or is this an enemy attack saying, “I am going to stop you. I’m going to discourage you. I am going to make you give up.” You need to know.

Lean into the Holy Spirit, and He will tell you, “He,y you can do all things through Christ who gives you strength. Be strong. Be bold. Have I not commanded you be courageous? Your enemy is prowling around like a roaring lion. He is attacking you, but you will persevere. Why?

“Because I am with you wherever you go. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged. Do not be dismayed. The Lord your God is with you.” And so in those moments, you need to latch on to this, and you need to know, “Okay, what’s going on here? I’ve been prevented from doing this.

Is this God closing doors? Do I need to look around for a wall that’s open or a door?”—that’s open that no one else can close, not even the devil can try to stop you.

You can go right through there, or “Is this an attack, and I need to just figure out what’s going on in this moment and rely on God?” and then you will persevere.

But I would encourage you that when a closing door happens, your first instinct should be, “Okay, is this you, God?” and start immediately looking around and finding out, “Hey, is there a breeze coming in?

Is a wall opened up? Is there a door that no one can close that has been opened somewhere else?” and lean into that. Holy Spirit prompting exactly like Paul did.

Let’s go to 1 Corinthians 16:5: “After I go through Macedonia, I will come to you, for I will be going through Macedonia.” That’s what Paul said. He will be going there.

Let’s go to nine because “a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me.” Okay, listen to this: Paul recognized a door has opened—a great door—not just a little one.

He said like, like a wall-sized door. He says, “A great door has opened for me for effective work,” but what? “But many oppose me.” Who is the “many”? That’s the works of the devil. Paul recognized, “Hey, I was kept from Asia—Asia—I was kept from Bethnia.

Those that was the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Jesus saying, ‘No, do not go there.’ But now I’m going through Macedonia, and there are many who oppose me, but this is God’s door opening.”

And there are many who oppose him. Who are the many? He knows that this many that oppose him now is not the Spirit keeping him from his travels. This is the works of the devil trying to prevent him from doing the will of God. Recognize that.

So when you run into a closed door, or you see closing doors around you, be ready to feel the breeze of a wall opening up, or a great door, as Paul says, because a great door for what? effective work has opened to you.

Not a great door of tireless work or troublesome work. No, effective work. That means that if you are prevented from going somewhere, God may be saying, “This is too time-consuming, too strugglesome, too tiresome. I want you over here because my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

And that’s where God wants you to be, abiding in Him at all times, bearing much fruit, not struggling and bearing a little bit of fruit.

No, abiding in Him and bearing much fruit. So do that. Don’t focus on closing doors around you. Look for the great door opening that no one can shut.

Let’s pray. Father, thank you so much for this inspirational message. I ask that you would speak to each and every person watching and listening. That they would be able to hear your voice.

That they would be able to discern when you are speaking to them, when you are closing doors around them that no one can open, Lord, that they would know that, that they wouldn’t try to tirelessly and frivolously prevail against a closed door, that they would move on to the great door that you have opened for them that no one can shut.

Help them recognize those opportunities, in Jesus’ name, amen. I hope you’ve enjoyed this sermon series on comfort in hard times. If you have any questions, please comment below on the YouTube channel or head over to our Discord server, where you can engage in the sermon discussions. Have a great week, and God bless.